Those Who Know 1: Warriors A New Beginning
by AmayaZilla
Summary: "But beware pain only breeds more pain…blood will be spilled in days of peace and the one who knows will never tell…" The strange prophecy haunts the creation of the new clans as they struggle to find a place between the twolegs and the mountains that surround them.
1. Prologue

Allegiances

_Cats_

Blaze—_ginger she-cat with white front paws and blazing emerald eyes. _

Bright—_black and brown patched she-cat with amber eyes._

Slash—_grey-blue tom with darker chest and paws, his eyes are a deep brown._

Mountain—_dark grey tom with dull amber eyes._

Dusk—_black she-cat with bright hazel eyes._

Ice—_dark blue-grey tom with front white paws and icy eyes._

Spark—_brownish-orange she-cat with amber-green eyes._

Meek—_small brown tom with only half his tail and misty grey eyes._

Water—_silvery-grey she-cat with hazel eyes._

Leaf—_dark brown tom with dark green eyes._

Sparkle—_black and brown tortoiseshell queen soft green-blue eyes._

Speed—_lean reddish-brown tom with dark amber eyes._

River—_silvery-blue queen with soft brown eyes._

Forest—_dark brown tabby with burning grey-blue eyes._

Bash—_young grass-stained white tom with dark eyes._

_Other Animals_

Amaya—_young mountain lion she-cub that lives at the gathering place of the FourStreams._

Mindheart—_old he-owl who lives with Amaya and has learned to speak many tongues including cat and twoleg._

* * *

**Prologue**

"Tell me a story mom, what happened to the ancient cats." A little ginger she-kit begged, her bright green eyes gazing at the sky.

"Okay, okay, settle down little Blaze and I'll tell you." Her mother shifted behind her _"Many, many years ago four clans lived on the other side of this twoleg place. They were called ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan and they lived in the forest. One day twolegs brought huge monsters and tore up the forest, the clans were forced to leave their homes but one cat from ThunderClan refused to go. That cat eventually fled to twoleg place but he refused to let the story of the clans disappear from this place, he began to spread the story and soon all of twoleg place knew the truth of the wild cats. That wasn't enough for the former clan cat though, he wanted to rebuild the clans here but there wasn't enough room on that side of twoleg place. He traveled across the twoleg place to here, the valley between the ancients, but no one wanted to help him build a clan. He was growing old by his time and knew he had little time left so when he chanced upon and owl egg he decided to raise it. And while he raised the owl, he taught it all he could about the former clans, hoping that one day new clans could be created in this valley."_

"Do you think they will? Where did the owl go?" Blaze yawned and twisted to gaze at her mother.

"Maybe one day they will but no one knows what happened to the owl." Her mother stroked the kit with her tail, still gazing at the stars.

Blaze yawned again and curled down by her mother's belly "What was the cat's name?"

"His name was Riverblaze…"

* * *

On that same night on the partial island by the gathering place of the fourstreams, a young mountain lion cub sat in the highest tree with her tail curled loosely around the branch and her misty blue eyes trained on the stars.

After a few moments a quiet yet strange hooty voice murmured behind her "It comes soon, the new set…"

The cub turned her eyes away from the stars to gaze at the ancient owl perched on the branch behind her "Soon, yes Mindheart, but will it be in time?"

Mindheart turned his head towards her as he spoke again "It will, what makes you doubt Amaya? I and Riverblaze have carried the story far enough, StarClan will not let it go to waste."

"I have seen much in my few moons yet you ask why I doubt?" Amaya shook her head and rose to her paws. "Come, it is time we speak with Riverblaze again." She leapt down from the tree and raced towards the jut.

Mindheart followed more slowly, gliding just above her as she leapt the jut and took off around the lake and towards HighIsland.

Amaya paused at the entrance to the StarTunnel, her tail flicking slightly before she plunged into the dark tunnel. The owl followed behind with his almost silent wing beats. Her paws seemed to race down the well-known path into the darkness, one ear slanted back to listen for Mindheart.

Down and down they raced until finally a faint beam of light appeared ahead, breaking the darkness and revealing a starlit carven deep under the center of the lake. The light seeped through a large hole in the roof that was covered by a strange, thin sheet of clear sapphire to keep the lake water out.

Amaya stopped beside a large rock that jutted out of the center of the cavern, her eyes scanning the place as she called out "Riverblaze, we need to speak!"

Nothing seemed to happen and finally Mindheart murmured in a low voice "Has the moon already passed?"

Before an answer could even be thought up though the cave was awash in moonlight as the half-moon slide over the hole in the roof and a voice replied "Speak of what?"

Amaya twisted to see the old starry pelted blue-grey tom sitting on the MoonRock above them. She watched him a moment before answering "Speak of the clans that are to come."

The StarClan cat smiled faintly before replying "I tell you again, soon will come young from the forest and from the place of twolegs. You must teach them of the clans and of us in StarClan, you must make them into a clan. But that will not be what makes them a true clan, they must learn to suffer and depend on each other. For when the old clans left, a single cat stayed in the place of twolegs and refused to forget the struggles of the past."

Amaya closed her eyes, soaking in the ancient cat's wisdom as Mindheart landed on her back.

Riverblaze's voice softened and his eyes grew distant as he continued "_But beware pain only breeds more pain…blood will be spilled in the days of peace and the one who knows will never tell…"_

"The one who knows, what does that mean? Why will blood be spilled?" Amaya opened her eyes in confusion but the moonlight was beginning to fade around them.

_"__By the end many will know but none will tell…find the one…" _The words were so faint she barely caught them as the shape of Riverblaze disappeared along with the last of the moonlight.

Amaya sat down in the dark carven and shifted her confused gaze to the hole in the roof, murmuring quietly "I think we just heard another prophecy."

"One for us or for the clans?" Mindheart questioned but no answer came.


	2. Chapter 1: Chance Meeting

**Chapter 1: Chance Meeting**

Fifteen moons passed since that night and the day was misty and cold with the first snow of leaf-bare. Two toms streaked through the forest towards the bad stream, their breath misting in the air.

"Where are we going Slash?" The smaller tom called out as they neared the stream.

Slash paused on the stream bank and glanced back at him "To the jut, I want to investigate that story. Hurry up Meek, this will be fun." He turned and raced along the edge of the stream without waiting for an answer.

Meek followed close behind, panting out his words "The one about the former island? They said it used to be in the center of the lake…"

"Yep, they said a giant cat used to live in the lake and that he had four children. When they were old enough he gave a stream to each child but one of them got greedy." Slash replied as they neared the jut where the stream thinned out at a rocky cliff.

"The greedy one killed the giant cat and tried to claim the lake for himself but the other three forced him back and shoved the island against the mainland to seal him off. The stream and greedy one were too powerful though so they only partly succeeded." Meek finished and stopped at the stream edge.

Slash nodded, panting as he gazed up at the cliff "Let's start up there." He leapt up to the first rock and glanced down at Meek "Come on."

"Is this safe? Those rocks look really slippery…" Meek muttered, kneading the ground.

"Scaredy mouse!" Slash teased and leapt higher, crossing the stream and landing on a rock just above the foaming water.

"Am not." Meek muttered and moved closer to the edge "That just looks dangerous."

"Are too" Slash taunted and bunched his muscles to leap again but the stream suddenly surged against the jut, forcing him off the rock and into the foaming water.

"Slash!" Meek called, jerking back from the edge to keep from falling himself.

As the water settled down again a large shadow leapt off the cliff and dove into the water below.

Meek moved closer to the edge and peered down but could see nothing of Slash or the shadow for several moments. Finally the largest cat he had ever seen broke the surface of the water and climbed out on the bank further down. He took a nervous step back as it set an unconscious Slash down and began licking him dry.

"He is lucky Amaya, your hearing is as sharp as ever." A strange hooty voice said behind Meek.

The tom-cat shifted his gaze to see an old owl flying towards the large cat but his gaze snapped back as the cat-thing spoke.

"Yes, very lucky. Though it makes me wonder…" the cat's voice was softer than he had expected, sort of young and shy.

The owl chuckled slightly before replying "We certainly haven't seen any other cats." Then he turned towards Meek with something almost like a smile "You come from the place of twolegs, yes?"

"Uh…" Meek took a nervous step back and nearly lost his footing "Y-yes."

"Careful, I don't feel like another swim." Came the almost silent growl from the cat-thing as it stabilized him.

"Well you won't help us dead." The owl chuckled as it landed on the big cat's back "Do you know any other cats?"

"L-lots…even though I'm just a loner…" Meek stammered, knowing he had to wait for the right chance to escape but he couldn't just leave Slash.

"Hmm…" the cat-thing smiled slightly and shifted her gaze to the sky "Then StarClan has finally answered."

Before Meek could ask what she meant, Slash coughed and the big cat leapt back up the cliff. Meek didn't bother looking to see where she had gone, he raced over to his friend's side and nudged him "Are you okay?"

"Fine…I think" Slash coughed again and rose shakily to his paws "What happened?"

"Do not worry young one, the watcher of the island saved you."

Meek shifted his gaze to see the owl perched on the cliff top with the big cat-thing sitting beside it. "And what does that mean? Who are you two?"

Slash glanced up beside him but knew it would be best if he didn't question it.

This time the big cat answered "I am the watcher of the island, the puma of the valley, and StarClan's chosen mentor for the new future clans, I am Amaya and he is Mindheart, speaker of many tongues and adopted child of the last clan cat of old."

Meek cocked his head slightly, processing what she said as his thoughts drifted back to the stories of the old clans his mother had told him.

Finally Slash asked "Then where are the new clans, why have you not made them?"

Amaya smiled before replying "Because you are the first cats I have met, you cannot make a clan without cats."


	3. Chapter 2: Racing On, Truth or Story?

**Chapter 2: Racing On, Truth or Story?**

"Blaze! Bright! Get up!"

Blaze blinked open her emerald green eyes to see a small brown tom-cat standing in front of her, his half a tail flicking back and forth. She stretched and rose to her paws, yawning as she spoke "What is it Meek? Where is Slash?"

Bright's black and brown patched pelt slowly stretched beside her, as Bright twisted to see what was disturbing their nap "Yes, what is so important you had to wake us?"

Meek was almost bouncing in place, his usually nervous misty grey eyes suddenly sparkling "You won't believe what me and Slash found at the jut! The old stories are happening, she knows them all!"

Blaze slapped her tail over his mouth with a sigh "Slow down Meek, what got you so excited?"

Meek paused for breath, still hardly keeping still "We met a mountain lion called Amaya and the owl from the old stories! They're trying to rebuild the clans!"

"Have you gone mouse-brained? Calm down and speak sense." Bright muttered, her tail flicking irritably.

Meek narrowed his eyes then suddenly turned and leapt onto the twoleg fence beside them "Just come on."

Blaze glanced at Bright then shrugged and leapt up after Meek, pausing for her friend to join her before leaping down into the forest.

Meek was already racing off through forest, not seeming to care whether they followed or not.

"You must have upset him." Blaze muttered before taking off after the tom, following more by scent than sight with Bright close on her tail.

It was almost sunhigh by the time they reached the jut and stopped to catch their breath. Meek was nowhere in sight but his scent trail appeared to lead up the cliff on the other side of the stream.

Blaze exchanged a glance with Bright before leaping the stream and beginning to scramble up the cliff. Bright watched a moment before leaping across to join her and they both took several minutes to scramble to the cliff top and haul themselves over it.

Meek was sitting a few tail lengths from them, waiting. "See, you decided to come after all." He muttered before turning and racing on, heading towards the center of the partial island they were now on.

Blaze sat panting on the cliff top for a moment before taking off after him, Bright again following close behind.

* * *

"Are they coming?" Slash asked as Meek skidded off the edge of the circular central clearing and down into the dip that looked as though it had been carved out of the ground to leave a bowl shaped indent.

Meek nodded, panting to catch his breath as he sat down by Slash and shifted his gaze up to where Amaya and Mindheart sat in the tree cross the clearing "They'll be here soon."

"Great" Slash replied and followed his gaze "Can you tell us more now Amaya?"

"Soon" the mountain lion replied "We must wait for the others."

All eyes turned to the edge of the forest as the two she-cats crashed into the dip, stumbling over each other as they left the flat ground of the forest floor and landed behind Meek and Slash.

"Glad we didn't do that when we found this place." Slash laughed before turning back to Amaya "Now will you tell us?"

Meek smirked slightly as he helped Bright and Blaze to their paws "Watch your step there."

"You could have warned us." Blaze muttered as she shook the dust from her pelt and scanned the clearing "What is this place?"

"This place is known as the Gathering Place of the FourStreams." Amaya replied as she leapt down from her tree and padded over to sit in front of the cats "It is commonly referred to as FourStreams and is mine and Mindheart's home."

The she-cats twisted suddenly as the mountain lion spoke and Meek left them gaping to go sit by Slash again as he asked "Now?"

"Yes, yes." Amaya smirked as she settled down "I'm sure you've all heard the stories of the old clans from your mothers, the stories of the clans that once lived on the far side of twoleg place."

Slash and Meek nodded while Bright and Blaze simply stared.

"What you probably haven't heard of is StarClan, the ancestors of all clan cats that walk in SilverPelt." Amaya continued "These ancestors have given me the task to pass on the skills of a clan warrior. Though until the clans are created I can only pass on the basic skills shared by all the clans."

"That's fine, we'll find more cats." Meek promised, his half a tail flicking back and forth in excitement "Please teach us what you can."

Amaya smirked and gently laid her tail on his shoulder "Of course, let's begin today by seeing what you four can do."


	4. Chapter 3: The Makings of a Warrior

**Chapter 3: The Makings of a Warrior**

Blaze's paws barely skimmed the ground as she raced through the forest, it was about a half-moon since Meek had first told her about Amaya and the old clans and she was headed to yet another sunhigh meeting with the puma.

Several other cats had joined them since that day but the group was still small. Between meetings she, like Meek, Slash, and Bright, had been busy spreading the news throughout the twolegplace. Most saw them as crazy or just stared like they couldn't possibly understand.

She shook her head to clear these distant thoughts and carefully leapt the gap to scramble up the cliff. They had found safer ways to cross the bad stream but she wasn't in the mood for a swim today.

Once she was safe on the cliff she took off running again, letting her paws guide her to the gathering place. As she carefully picked her way down into the dip she spotted Amaya sitting in the midst of several new cats, probably briefing them on the basics before the meeting started.

She settled in her spot next to Bright and scanned the area, identifying the cats she knew and getting names from Bright when she didn't.

Meek and Slash were off to one side of the dip, deep in conversation with Mindheart. Behind them sat two other cats she had met only yesterday. The first was Dusk, an oddly quiet she-cat with raven black fur and bright hazel eyes. She was busy speaking with the dark blue-grey tom called Ice, his icy blue eyes and white front paws making his name easy to remember.

Sitting on the edge of the dip with wide eyes sat the two queens and their mates; Sparkle was a black and brown tortoiseshell with soft blue green eyes who had left her kittypet nest to protect her soon to be born kits and River was a silvery-blue with soft brown eyes. Both were so close to kitting that Blaze had to wonder how they had even made the trip.

The toms standing over them were nervously scanning the crowd while the queens talked, the lean red-brown Speed looked slightly angry to be involved in this madness while the kind-hearted Leaf simply looked worried for his mate's safety.

Blaze shifted her eyes to the other side of the dip as she caught more voices and spotted a trio of cats sitting just behind her. The two she-cats Spark and Water were arguing with the often irritable Bash. The grass-stained white tom was probably the youngest of the group and he had been a kittypet before deciding to join them.

Further back, on the opposite side of the dip sat the last of the group. Forest and Mountain were talking in hushed whispers, their voices barely distinguishable from the murmur of the crowd.

Blaze shifted her gaze back to Amaya as the mountain lion rose to her paws, the group around her having disappeared earlier. "Is it time yet?" she asked above the noise of the crowd.

* * *

Amaya raised her head at the voice and gave a faint smile "Yes Blaze, today is the last day you will be loners and kittypets for tomorrow you will all be warriors. I have done all I can for you as a group…"

Mindheart returned to her shoulder as she leapt into the tree branches to better address the gathering. "I have no lessons for you today; you already have the makings of warriors. This evening I will take a few of you with me to determine the clans' separations and the new leaders."

The crowd dispersed into groups as they began discussing who the leaders would be. A few of them even dropped back into the discussions of medicine cats from the day before.

Amaya laid her head on her paws as she watched them, enjoying the breeze for the moment but the prophecy still haunted her thoughts. What was she getting these young cats into?

_"__Beware…pain only breeds more pain…blood will be spilled in days of peace…and the one who knows will never tell…"_


End file.
